Use Direct Mail to Spur Trade Show Attendance

After many years of supporting the marketing of trade show and conference managers and exhibitors, we can attest to the continued power of direct mail in building audience. While exhibitors who do a pre-show campaign one or two months before a show can increase attendance by up to 50%, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, a post by the NextPage agency recently explained how direct mail can push those pre-event promotional efforts several steps ahead of competitors. Show marketers looking for an edge with multi-channel audiences will embrace direct mail’s higher response rates and retention rates, urges NextPage, leveraging the deliverability of a tactile and visual attention-getter in an era of crowded digital mailboxes and websites. By combining variable printing with segmented list targeting, savvy marketers can create a pre-event mailing that is a highly personalized invitation. Including an incentive in the mailer will further spur booth visits. For example, trade show expert Marlys Arnold earns long lines at her booth by using scavenger hunts in pre-show campaigns, with a direct mail piece that lists five questions and gives a web address where attendees can print off an answer sheet to fill out and bring to the show. In another example, independent copywriter named Mark Johnson wanted to target subscription newsletter marketers at a Las Vegas Conference and created a special website with case studies and a free offer that he touted in a postcard. The free offer was an exclusive 30-minute consultation with Johnson to review current marketing campaigns. Johnson rented the conference association’s membership list and mailed the card only to qualified leads five weeks before the show. Out of 400 pieces mailed, 406 people visited his site, and he generated five solid leads! As Johnson showed, the real key to success with a direct mail campaign is targeting qualified leads, starting with a list of current clients and prospects and moving on to lists of registered attendees, association members, subscribers to relevant trade publications and newsletters, multi-channel buyers of relevant products, etc. Marketers can then segment and tailor messaging by geography, industry, product interest, title, and firm-ographics (such as number of employees). For more on event direct mail, see http://www.acculistusa.com/use-direct-mail-to-push-trade-show-attendance-ahead-of-the-pack/

Direct Mail With Social Sharing Revs Response

Taking social media and direct mail from parallel tracks to integrated teamwork delivers added response power to multi-channel marketing campaigns. For those who are scratching their heads over mail-social integration, we recommend a Target Marketing magazine article by Summer Gould, including two case studies as templates. Gould boils a successful mail-social marriage down to a simple formula: Use the power of social sharing to expand mail response. Basically, start with an existing direct mail campaign that is working well. Create landing pages for the target audience to visit and direct recipients to those pages in the mail piece. Ask the audience to provide the information that you want on the landing pages. Finally, to get your offer, ask people to share with others. Marketers don't have to reinvent the wheel to get this done, but they do need to remember to include vital spokes! Gould starts with the basics: Define objectives and the target market. Then adjust direct mail design to include landing pages and social media sharing. Make sure that the offer is the same for both direct mail and social media, and be sure to effectively incentivize sharing. Focus carefully on the data capture required in return for the offer, including social media accounts so you can reward those who share! Finally, make sure you have the social media monitoring software to track results. Gould's article offers two case studies that should inspire emulation. First, Chick-fil-A, which wanted to both build its customer database and increase store traffic, launched a direct mail campaign of 5,000 plastic postcards that included social sharing. Thanks to the viral impact, the campaign gained a 279.8% response! Second, Stein Mart wanted to increase store redemption through a referral program. The discount retailer mailed 20,000 postcards with a social sharing component, and the campaign gained a total response of 150.58%. For more, including links to the case studies for details, see our web blog post at http://www.acculistusa.com/drive-response-by-integrating-direct-mail-and-social-sharing/

Use Social Sharing to Rev Direct Mail Response

Integrating the targeted power of direct mail with the viral power of social media can turbocharge results, and a recent article in Target Marketing magazine offers some good case studies as models for how direct mailers can harness social sharing to significantly boost response. Article author Summer Gould cites two examples: 1) Chick-fil-A, which integrated social sharing with a mailing of 5,000 plastic postcards for a whopping 279.8% response to grow its store traffic and customer database, and 2) Stein Mart, which used viral social sharing with a 20,000-postcard mailing to earn 150.58% response for a referral program and in-store redemption. Put simply, the formula involves directing the target audience of a proven direct mail package to a landing page/social page to provide data, get a reward and share the promotion. But of course, it's not simple. The secret to success lies in executing the details, starting with eye-catching, call-to-action design for the direct mail and the landing page and social media creatives. The goal is to not only push response but capture customer data for reward delivery and database growth. It means defining the objectives, the target audience and the desired data capture carefully. Most of all, it means developing a killer offer, which has to be the same for mail and social venues. It has to be the right offer for the right audience at the right time. It must grab attention, drive action, and inspire viral sharing. Of course, sharing is helped by extra incentives offered to any who share, from coupons to freebies to whatever wows the target audience. Although the case studies both come from retail marketing, the lessons can apply to other verticals, including nonprofits. For links to the case studies, see our post at http://www.acculistusa.com/social-sharing-can-turbocharge-direct-mail-response/

Many Websites Miss the Mark on E-mail Sign-ups

The e-mail subscription efforts of commercial websites are surprisingly spotty, according to a recent study by digital marketing firm Publicare Marketing Communications. Publicare attempted to subscribe to e-mail lists on 6,757 websites. Shockingly, given the value of e-mail acquisition, 10% of sites did not even offer e-mail subscriptions, and 18% made it hard for visitors to sign up by hiding the subscription form on subpages or requiring a user account prior to sign-up. So congratulations to the 87.3% who put the subscription form on the home page, and the 29.7% of those who then promoted a simple form with a pop-up layer. But shame on the 13.2% who got folks to join their e-mail list and then dropped the ball, failing to deliver even one e-mail within two months of winning a subscriber. And despite the high ROI of e-mail marketing, only 18.8% offered an incentive, such as a coupon, for joining the mailing list. By the way, opt-in strategy ran the gamut from confirmed opt-in (46%) to single opt-in (34.2%) to double opt-in (19.8%). For a useful infographic, see https://hive.publicare.de/en/email-marketing-benchmark-part1/

For 2016, Leverage B2B E-mail's Full Potential

E-mail marketing tops other channels in terms of ROI, per the DMA's 2015 Response Rate Report, and the majority of business-to-business marketers rank e-mail as their top digital lead-gen tool. So if you're a B2B marketer, make exploiting e-mail's potential a 2016 resolution and check out this recent smartinsights.com post for nine great ways to accomplish that goal. Tactic No. 1 is to offer valuable curated e-mail content to gain contact details, targeting by industry and area of expertise. Second, use e-mail to re-activate existing contacts, such as automated e-mail sends after a period of inactivity, with incentives for log-in. The No. 3 e-mail tactic--and one of the most cost-effective ways to boost traffic and engagement--is e-mailed announcements about new products, site updates or business milestones such as awards. The fourth idea on the list is to showcase value or gain contact data by creating a white paper and e-mailing a free download link. E-mail tactic No. 5 is a no-brainer in today's multichannel world: Include e-mail in a campaign to help drive traffic, engagement/relationship-building or action (from inquiries to purchases). E-mail is an ideal tool for event traffic-building, too, including trade shows, seminars, webinars and social chat. So suggestion No. 6 is to invite event participation with a catchy subject line and enticing information. Since e-mail and webinars are a natural combination, idea No. 7 is to e-mail a webinar invite with a simple registration form and a clear, time-sensitive call to action. Sharing success stories is another proven way to inspire action from existing and potential clients, so Idea No. 8 is to promote links to a relevant case study, based on industry and job title/responsibility targeting. Last but not least, an e-mai offer of a free trial or demo is a great way to gain leads. To pump response, try an automated e-mail follow-up to non-responders with a limited-time offer. For real-life examples of each type of e-mail, go to http://www.smartinsights.com/b2b-digital-marketing/b2b-email-marketing/9-b2b-email-marketing-examples/

How to Use Direct Mail to Rev Trade Show Marketing

With direct mail accounting for 30% of trade show attendees' ad spending, snail mail is still essential to show marketing even in this increasingly digital world, points out Charles Dugan in a recent Trade Show News Network post. Based on his experience as owner of a trade show display firm, Dugan offers some good tips on direct mail tactics. Starting with the basics, he advises planning at least two campaigns: an early awareness mailing to get planners to put the show on their calendars and then a follow-up mailing closer to the show with exciting materials and attendance incentives. Then cut costs and boost response with targeting, both geographic and demographic. Use available mailing list data to personalize, ranging from gender all the way to ethnicity or specific hobbies. Offer incentives for attendance, with the inclusion of complementary tickets for example. Take advantage of direct mail's unique physicality to make a dimensional package that's fun and enticing, boosting open rates and response. And integrate snail mail with digital, via QR codes for example. QR codes can be used to promote access to exciting website materials, including videos, or something as simple as an online RSVP. For more, see the article at http://www.tsnn.com/news-blogs/why-direct-mail-should-still-be-your-trade-show-marketing-plans

Loyalty Rewards Needed to Woo Millennial Shoppers

To win over the fickle millennial shopper, a loyalty rewards program is essential, at least based on a new report from Bond Brand Loyalty. As reported recently in Ad Age, Bond's fourth-annual survey of more than 6,000 consumers, found that 37% of millennials, defined as 20- to 34-year-olds, said they would not be loyal to a brand that doesn't have a strong loyalty program (compared with 30% of all respondents). And brand loyalty programs must keep competing to please these younger buyers: Of millennials surveyed, 68% said they change when and where they make purchases to get loyalty rewards, and 60% will switch brands if incentivized. No wonder loyalty programs are elbowing each other in a crowded field. On average, people are enrolled in 10.4 loyalty programs, according to the Bond study, although they are only active in 70% of them. Looking for loyalty rewards worth emulating? See the survey's top-ranked loyalty programs by company in each market category at http://adage.com/article/datadriven-marketing/dove-jetblue-top-loyalty-program-rankings/293499/

How to Use Preheader Text to Boost E-mail Opens

With a crowded e-mail inbox and a few seconds of e-mail attention span, snaring opens is a struggle -- even with a good subject line. What if you could reinforce the opening power of your subject line? A recent Target Marketing magazine article explains how to do that with preheader text. Preheader text is the grayed-out text that shows up after the subject line when checking e-mail in your Gmail inbox or on your mobile device. If you don't put in your own preheader text, you send a default message like "If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail…" -- which wastes space that could pack real marketing punch. The Target Marketing piece suggests how to use preheader text as a second chance to capture reader attention. You can use it to expand on the subject line, add call-to-action language or add an incentive offer, for example. And you can personalize the preheader for a more subtle friendliness than the personalized subject line, which offends some. One thing the preheader should not do is merely repeat or recast the subject line; that's a reader-annoying waste of marketing real estate. Plus, you're writing for the e-mail inbox, so keep the preheader short but impactful at 75 characters or less. Finally, since the preheader should be audience-targeted marketing copy, you should do A/B testing of variations. For more tips, check out the article at http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/8-uses-preheader-text-improve-email-open-rates/1

Grow Your E-mail List With Social Media

Given that e-mail marketing is one of the most effective lead generation channels, head and shoulders above social media, turning social media followers into e-mail subscribers is a marketing no-brainer. How to do it? A recent Social Media Examiner article gives some tips. First of all, set up a simple e-mail opt-in form on your social channels and make it easy for fans to subscribe to your e-mail list. On Facebook, you can dedicate a tab at the top right-hand side of your page, with an icon linked to an e-mail sign-up form. There are many different options for setting up an e-mail opt-in form, including apps from MailChimp, Constant Contact, Benchmark, JD Subra and iContact. You still have to make it desirable to join your e-mail list, however. You can offer free premium content to subscribers, for example, such as eBooks, white papers, infographics, long-form articles or newsletters. Create an e-mail form landing page for each offer and use social media to promote. Share excerpts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+, for instance, to send traffic to e-mail sign-up pages. Other incentives driving e-mail subscriptions could include a discount, free sample, or coupon. And if you host a webinar for social media followers, make sure to set up for e-mail collection. A webinar hosted on a Google hangout can share links to resource landing pages with e-mail sign-up forms, for example. Webinars hosted via programs like AnyMeeting, GoToWebinar, PGI, Ready Talk or Join Me can include an opt-in form to collect e-mails from viewers before they enter the webinar. A tried and true option for e-mail list building is to promote a contest, sweepstakes or giveaway to social media fans. There are many apps for contests, sweepstakes or giveaways on Facebook (and often other social channels), but be sure to choose one with e-mail sign-up for entry. For more detail on tactics and apps, go to http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-grow-email-list-with-social-media/